Adaptation
by Parastar
Summary: Wild Pokemon face a succession of environmental challenges as they grow and develop in the wilderness. Growing stronger as they live through life, going through trial and error and becoming better if they survived. That is what the crybaby Charmander must do now after being left behind by his trainer, and it will make him something that should be feared.
1. The Trainer

_Sorry to my other readers to my other stories, I've been out of the loop for some time_

_I'm trying to type this story to help get my groove back before I continue the others_

_To those who haven't read my other one's, forget what I said and enjoy the read and I hope its up to your expectations of a story._

"Human speech"

_Human thoughts_

**[Pokemon speech]**

_**Pokemon thoughts**_

ooOOOoo

On the outskirts of Pallet town, where the wind reached its full velocity and swept through the tall grass with powerful yet gentle hands, a lone trainer sat on a stump. Watching as her starter Pokémon scurried curiously around a bush, giving a few sniffs before backing off and trembling nervously as it began to quiver to life.

Angelica watched as her Charmander sprinted back and proceeded to hide behind her bag sitting at her feet, poking its head out every few seconds. The fire lizard gave a yelp when the shrub erupted violently in an eruption of leaves, a flock of Pidgey flying off into the forest further up the trail.

She gave a sigh at this; this wasn't part of her plan, well, more like a drawback on her pre-planned journey. She was positive that the little lizard would have a backbone, on the show Pokémon Planet all the Charmander were tough. Following their instincts to try and be dominant over their brethren by being the strongest and the toughest. Though, that show rotated around the lifestyles of Pokémon born and living in the wild, not domesticated Pokémon that were born and raised in a lab.

This Charmander was skittish, easily frightened, and too shy to even raise its voice unless he became alarmed. She had chosen Charmander for his final evolutionary form, Charizard. A Pokémon with fire hot enough to melt rock, that could soar hundreds of feet in the air and could keep up with the fastest of Pidgeot when trained properly. Angelica wasn't stupid enough to start off blind; she did her research beforehand and knew that a Charizard would be perfect for her team.

And she was lucky; very few people were able to obtain one of the three original starters these days. Needing to resort to using other Pokémon like Sandshrew and Rattata to be eligible to begin their journey's as trainers. Angelica was lucky that she had a very rich family that was able to _convince_ Professor Oak in giving her a Charmander.

She was grateful to her father allowing her to start her very own journey and grateful that he helped her obtain the fire-tailed lizard, but that was the only help she wanted. Father thought she would give up being a trainer in a month or two, thinking she would grow irritated with the hard life of a trainer and come home to be schooled to further profit his company, soon to be her company.

She would prove him wrong.

Angelica wanted to be more than a stuffy company owner, worrying about dead money from a product recall or a loss in sales. She wanted to travel, make her own adventures, and fill the gaping whole in her life that craved for passion. She wanted to rise above all by her own power, be the best in the world because she worked for it, and not have it handed to her on a silver platter.

She wanted to be a Pokémon master. Better than the ever elusive, silent fighter, Red.

She did a study on him weeks before starting her journey, wanting to find possible tips on how to get as good as he did. The boy conquered the Pokémon League in a _year_ at the age of ten and brought down the crime organization Team Rocket, if anyone had claimed this would happen beforehand they would be labeled insane, or dangerously over optimistic, either way.

Angelica was sixteen and she didn't think it possible for her to do, despite the age difference. But she couldn't doubt herself; if a boy six years her junior could do it, so could she. Although, it was going to take a lot of training that would push her to the limits along with her Pokémon, so she needed Pokémon with as strong a commitment and will as she did.

And that led Angelica to her current problem, the Charmander.

It looked up at her and she met his gaze, his red orbs meeting her own blue ones. It flinched and lowered its head submissively, too intimidated to even look at her now.

Angelica gave a sigh, tucking a stray strand of her ebony hair behind her ear, "you really need to pull yourself together and stop being scared, it will do us no good in the long run."

He still kept his head down only giving a nod with a muttered, "Cha-Charman." His new owner scared him a little, her eyes cutting through him like icy blades. Reminding him of the ice types, teasing him for his irrational fears and tendency to overreact in fright during the times the Professor released them to play. He knew he was a scardy-Meowth, and he did try to toughen up, he really did, but he just couldn't help himself sometimes.

He saw those Pokémon with owners' train them, lifting groves of trees from their roots, flinging boulders with shear strength alone, and make the ground shake as if a stampede of Tauros were right on top of him. That last one injured him significantly; sending the poor little fire type to the ground in pain and making him cry endlessly the rest of the day. The nice Professor cradled Charmander in his arms after the machine healed the worst of it, waiting patiently for the little lizard to stop crying.

A Rhydon and her trainer were given a _very_ strict scolding afterwards.

So the fire Pokémon had a good reason of being terrified a lot, there would be something mentally wrong with him if he wasn't. So to this day, to his logic, if Pokémon that were trained could do that to him without trying, then the wild ones that wished him harm were _much_ worse.

Angelica stood, throwing her purple bag over her shoulder before continuing on the path to Viridian City, "come on, were heading out."

The Charmander gave a yelp before sprinting after her on his stubby legs; he didn't want to be left alone.

During the walk she kept her eye out for Spearow and Pidgey that she could use to train Charmander, and at the same time trying to think of a good name for him. She couldn't keep calling him by his species that would bring about confusion if they ever fought against other Charmander or so on.

_Ember, no it's not very creative. Maybe Flint, or even Alex, _glancing down at her Pokémon, she hoped that by looking at him that it would somehow help her figure out a name. The orange leathered lizard took big strides to keep up with her pace, needing to sometimes sprint to keep from falling far behind. She took notice of a very faint pattern of red stripes from the top of his head to the tip of his tail; she defiantly didn't see that before.

She defiantly wasn't going to call him Stripe that was just stupid. There was a sudden rustle in the grass ahead, making her stop and had Charmander sprint past her and almost hit the shuddering greenery. Now noticing the possible danger, Charmander back peddled in fear making him trip over a rock and fall on his butt in a very ungraceful manner.

"Coward," she felt shock at her own words and covered her mouth, it just came out, she didn't mean to say it out loud. The Charmander looked up at her, dropping his head to the side in a confused and hurt manner. She hoped he didn't mistake that as his name, if he did then he would only react to that name, at least until she went to a Name Rater. A type of Pokémon psychologist that could make a Pokémon forget its current name to be replaced by a new one.

A Rattata jumped out, giving a screech and flashing its sharp teeth in an intimidating manner. Charmander took a step back, poking its claws together nervously. She decided to test if the Charmander did mistake her slip up as his name, "Charmander."

No response.

She tried again, "Charmander," still nothing.

"….Coward?" the Charmander rose his head to her instantly. She mentally cursed herself for being so stupid and slipping up like that. This was not going to help her starter's issues at _all_. She had to forget about it for now though, fighting off the wild Rattata was the most important issue at the moment.

"Coward, use scratch!" the Charmander rose its claw, albeit reluctantly, and slowly edged closer to the purple rodent. The Rattata gave a hiss and lunged, scaring the charmander and forcing him to back up and raise his arms to his face protectively, the rodent spun around and used its tail to lasso Cowards arms. With its lower center of gravity, the Rattata pulled Coward off balance and forced him to face plant into the ground.

"Escape from its hold, Coward, then try Scratch again!" she yelled in panic, hoping that he could escape and pull through this fight without being seriously harmed.

Coward gave a cry of panic, squirming in the wild mouse's grip and failing to release himself. Rattata gave another hiss and began clawing at Coward's unprotected head, enticing another scream from him but this time in pain.

"H-hey, stop that! Let him go!" Fear gripped Angelica's heart, fear for her Pokémon's safety and she ran over to them, hoping to pry off the Rattata and stop the charmander's pain filled wails. When she made a grab for them, the Rattata gave a growl and swiped at her, digging its claws deep in her hand.

She inhaled through her teeth and clutched her hand in pain, blood already dribbling from the three cuts. Coward, now given time to take a breather, continued to sob before coughing up a cloud of black smog from his lungs that rose and covered the area. The Rattata gave a screech in surprise and hissed in pain as the smog came in contact with its eyes, releasing the fire type and running off back into the thick grassland. Angelica sighed in relief, still clutching her cut hand, and walked up to her crying Pokémon as the Smokescreen settled.

He slowly pushed himself up from the dirt, crying and still coughing up puffs of black wisps that danced around his scratched face before dissipating into the air. Coward tried to stop the tears, attempting to force them from falling from his eyes before giving up and trying to wipe them away with his paws. He retracted his paw away immediately after a harsh sting burned his face and starting up a whole new batch of tears.

Angelica gave a grimace; a particularly deep cut ran vertically down Coward's right eye, dribbling a small stream of blood across his face. Unclipping Coward's pokeball from her belt, she expanded it and called back the whimpering reptile.

Coward was in no condition to battle again, and she knew better than to force her Pokémon to continue. At least he learned a new move that was a good thing, even if it was purely by accident.

ooOOOoo

After sprinting the rest of the short way to Viridian, Angelica made her way through the small city toward the local Pokémon Center. The door gave a soft 'ping' while pushing through it and she quickly made her way to the counter where a pink haired woman stood typing into a computer.

"Hello, how may I help?" the Nurse Joy asked, well, joyfully. Angelica hid a grimace, the woman seemed offly happy to be working at a place where sick and injured Pokémon were taken. There was a word for it; peppy…..she didn't like peppy people.

"umm, well, my Charmander got injured pretty bad and I was hoping you could help me," she knew the Nurse Joy would, it was her job, but it didn't hurt to be polite. It was more than a likelihood that she would be staying the night, so she didn't need someone giving her lip because she was rude.

"How bad, if it's too bad than the machine may not be able to heal it fully," she asked, setting the keyboard aside and focusing fully on the young trainer in front of her.

Angelica pulled Coward's ball from her belt and released him onto the counter, "do you mean like this?"

After the white flash of his release faded, Coward sat atop the counter clutching his wound in pain and trying to stop the bleeding. Angelica wondered that even if the ball put him in stasis, if it was possible for him to continue crying because wet streams still fell from his eyes.

Instantly, the woman's happy visage hid away and seriousness possessed her now sharp eyes. "Shhhh, its okay I'm just gunna take a look at it." Angelica didn't notice the she had taken a step away from the woman. Those eyes were scary.

Coward relaxed at her soft voice, not noticing that after she moved his arms that Nurse Joy gave a stern glare at his trainer, who averted her eyes and took another step back. Continuing her work she muttered her inspection, "multiple lacerations on the scalp, and two deep ones on and above his right eye, possible signs of infection."

Lowering her eyes, Nurse Joy began searching for other wounds. Feeling around the Charmander's pudgy arms and legs in search of any broken or fractured bones, before moving to his chest and continued the search. Coward squirmed awkwardly, uncomfortable with the Lady's hands all over him.

"We will take care of him, you may wait in the lounge till were done," Joy turned to a door behind her, "Chansey!"

She was rewarded with a similar call of 'Chansey!' before a round and pink Pokémon waddled out with a gurney. The Normal type picked up little Coward, who kicked and cried out in fright, and placed him on the gurney before rolling him into a room with a needle above the door that soon lit up.

The Woman followed right after, leaving Angelica standing at the counter awkwardly. How dare that woman glare at her, she didn't do anything wrong! All she did was try to have Coward fight a Rattata, its not like she could have predicted that the thing would practically tear the Charmander's head off! In fact, Rattata were weak in general, was her Pokémon so weak that he couldn't have even untied himself from that rat's tail!?

Unknown to her that the weaker Pokémon on those routes grew used to the constant beatings that helped furthered the ambitions of young trainers. They had learned, adapted, they refused to be used as punching bags anymore.

She could practically feel the steam flying out her ears, she was so mad. The other trainers sitting in the lounge watched the mixed emotions on Angelica's face before she finally stomped her feet toward a couch and planted herself on a cushion. Two of the trainers muttering, "Greenhorn," and returned to their own devices before the abrupt arrival of the now steaming sixteen year-old girl.

Angelica heard them and sent a glare that could melt ice, _these kids are younger than I am and they have the nerve to call ME an amateur. _The only reason for that being it took forever to convince her parents in letting her go on a journey, that meant making up for lost time. The thought of her parent's stubbornness only increased her rage.

Thankfully, when Coward was done being patched up, they could rest and leave again in the morning to continue their journey and training. Meaning that they would never have to see that nurse's pink haired, peppy, smiling face ever again.

If only she knew.

ooOOOoo

Arceus, why did everything have to be so difficult!?

The next morning, after she rented and stayed in a room for the night, she got back Coward and the Nurse Joy had made a list of what he couldn't do. If Coward exerted himself too much, the stitches in his head would open and they would need to hike back to the Pokémon Center to stitch him up again. That meant no Headbutt's, Tackle attacks, Scratch, or any other physical moves.

Meaning they had to rely on special type moves, but he only knew Smokescreen and Growl and nothing else, but he was too meek to growl and still had trouble making Smokescreen. That left him completely useless in a fight and unable to gain experience that would help him learn a new special move. This also meant that she would be unable to catch more Pokémon, needing Cowards help in weakening them first.

On top of that, even if Coward could fight, the gym leader was not even at his own gym! Evidently Green, the gym leader, went off somewhere in the region to help Professor Oak with a side project in his studies.

No one knew when he would return, so that left Angelica no choice but to wait for Cowards stitches to heal while hiking through Viridian Forest to the next gym in Pewter City. So, needing supplies for the trip, she went in search of a PokéMart for potions, antidotes, and extra Pokéballs. Not wanting to hike back because she was unprepared if Coward got injured, _again_.

But it couldn't be easy, no; she had to wander around taking sketchy directions from the civilians. _'You have to go- Yeah, just take two lefts-Turn right on- its close by actually, just over- wow kid, your way off. It's on the other side of town.'_

Even when she found it, the prices were _outrageous_! Her father's company didn't even charge this much for medicine. Angelica even complained, but the owner just frowned and said that gear was expensive.

"Come on kid, I need to make a liv'n. Just find someone to battle for cash, I bet you have tons of really strong Pokémon, with you being a trainer and all."

She wanted to tear his head off.

After finally getting supplies and hiking North through Route 2, they began there walk through the forest. Now the little Charmander tried clinging to her leg every few steps after hearing a Caterpie squeal or a sudden rustle in the canopy. She had to seriously restrain her self from kicking him after the seventh time he almost made her trip. This was becoming so frustrating, and she didn't want every day to be like this. It made it seem like her father was right in predicting that she would quite shortly, but she didn't want him to be right, _again_!

And if she had to explain to yet another persistent trainer that she couldn't battle with Coward still healing, she probably would end up hurting the rival trainer or Coward.

She stopped mid step, she forgot to search for a Name Rater for Coward in Viridian…..

Coward kept a few feet behind Angelica now, starting to sense his trainer's already high frustration and anger rise skyward. He watched worriedly, absentmindedly scratching at his stitches, as she started pulling at the roots of her ebony hair, cursing loudly and punching her leg in rage while yelling 'stupid, stupid, stupid!'

His trainer wasn't anything like Nurse Joy, always silent and thinking and staring at him with those icy sea blue eyes. Joy was always smiling and talked warmly to him as she stitched up his wound, it stung a lot but he bore through it to make her happy. She reminded him of the Professor, kind and patient and always being nice.

She talked to him before being given back to Angelica, whispering into his ear, "stay strong for your trainer, and in no time you will come to love her and she, you."

"She will make mistakes, and so will you, but you two will grow on one another and in no time become inseparable."

That was the last thing she said to the young Charmander, before recalling him into his ball and handing him to his trainer. She had known he was a meek and shy pokemon, having worked with them before, and it clashed with his trainer's own personality so she felt a need to help. She had already planned on telling Angelica the same thing, but the young girl grabbed the ball after Joy's warnings and explanation about pushing Coward, and briskly walked out.

So now he swept his fear aside, worrying about his trainer as she continued to hurt herself in frustration. He spotted a young boy walk through the bushes, hand raised in greeting, before growing alarmed and turned tail away from the raging girl a second later. Smart move on his part.

Coward wasn't sure what to do; he was never placed in such a situation before, but he would do this for his trainer, for her and Nurse Joy's sake. Walking over to Angelica, he raised his paw, hesitating for a second before tugging her pants lightly, "Char-Charmander?"

She reeled on him, "WHAT!? What is it _now_!?" The action pushed him back and made him fall on to his butt, tears already forming at the edges of his eyelids.

She stopped her berserking instantly, now feeling terrible that she was making her starter cry again. She rubbed her face, hoping to force off the stress away and frustration.

"Look, I'm sorry, it just that-"she cut it off there, looking up into the sky were the sun began to set.

"Let's just get some sleep, were not even halfway through the forest and we need to rest for tomorrow," She slipped the bag off her shoulders, and took out a thick purple sleeping bag.

She laid it out and slipped inside, pulling her pack over to use as a pillow, "g'night," she muttered.

Coward watched as she fell asleep instantly, being so tired as to not even bothering to put up a tent and fire or return him to his ball. A feeling of anxiety crept into his heart soon after, he was the only one awake in a dark forest filled with wild Pokémon.

There was a sudden rustle and a cry of pain in the distance, sending Coward in a fit of terrified shaking. He slowly tiptoed closer to Angelica and took a seat against her small frame, pulling his tail in front of him and using the radiant flame as a candle to fight back the ever growing darkness that just seemed to slowly swallow the world.

Coward jumped at the sound of another screech and cry, there was no way he was going to get any sleep tonight.

ooOOOoo

Coward gently held his fire-lit tail, head starting to fall lazily as he closed his eyes before growing alarmed and shaking his head to rid of his body's want of sleep. The sun was completely absent and the activity only seemed to rise in the surounding forest, making Coward Paranoid to the extreme and glancing at every derection that he thought he heard something close by.

Hours went past for all he knew but with the activity slowly dying now he guessed that it was offly late and that even the nocturnal Pokémon were starting to sleep. Feeling a peace of mind at this thought, Coward slowly laid down next to his trainer, curling his tail around his body and snuggled up to Angelica's side.

He felt a numbness come wash through his body, the arousing feeling of sleep wrapping around his tired form and began to pull him into the depths of slumber along side his trainer.

"persict't't't't, _'crunch' _sict't't't't," and now it was gone.

Bolting up from the ground, Coward trembled as he scanned around them for the sudden noise and he soon found it. A large, brown caripace stood over Angelica's pillow/bag, wripping and tearing the fabric as it dug around the clothing and equipment for the food it smelt.

The Pinsir had just returned to its tree after a failed night of froraging for smaller bug Pokémon and berries when the most delisious arome flew through the air. Compresing the large ivory mandibles on his head in anticipation, the Pinsir gave a 'click' before manuvering through the brush in search of the possibly delicious meal.

Now he stood in front of Coward, stickly arms working through the pack and alliciting a groan from Angelica from its rough actions. Coward watched, eyes wide and body shaking, the robust Pinsir as it leaned its head down to inspect the inside of the pack more closely. Big horns, pinching, coming closer to his trainer's head, he reacted without thinking.

"Charmander!" Coward roared, before tackling the larger Pokémon's chest and making it tumble to the ground. The Pinsir cried more in surprise than pain after hitting the dirt and it pulled itself up before growling, flexing its horned crown and nashing its rectangular teeth together threateningly.

Coward could feel blood oozing down his cheeck, but thought nothing of it as he dodged Pinsir's own tackle at him. Sidesteping the barbaric charge, Coward slaped the back of its head with his tail, the flame burning bright now as it collided against its exoskeleton and left a burn.

Pinsir gave a screech and retaliated, spinning round to face Coward and throwing a glowing fist into his stomach. Coward felt the wind get knocked out of him, the Mega Punch sending him soaring and crashing against the tree with a load _'crack'. _

He fell to the ground with a dull 'thud', the stronger Pokémon's strength nearly making him black out after hitting the unforgiving bark. Coward lifted his head, the stitches now fully ripped and blood gushing from the scratches, watching the Pinsir lose interest in him and now walking back to his still sleeping trainer.

Coward felt fear, but it was different, it wasn't a fear that rose when his own well being was threatened, it was for Angelica's. He rose on shakey legs, anger building in the pit of his stomach and filling his vains with hot fire. Subconsciously activating his natural ability, Blaze, Coward gave a loud growl that made the Pinsir flintch and turn back to face him.

Coward blasted a Smokescreen into the air, the black smoke filling the area and rendering Pinsir's sight useless. The bug type coughed and swung its body around in search of his opponent, failing miserably as the thick cloud stung its eyes and made it stumble on loose dirt.

Hearing a scuffle to its left side, Pinsir threw a blind Mega Punch and hit nothing. It threw another glowing fist to its right when it heard more noise, but the attack only swept up the smoke around its stickly arm. This continued for a short time before Pinsir grew anraged and began throwing random Mega Punch's and kicks then following up with a swing of his ivory mandibles in attempt of a Guillotine attack.

Coward kept his distance from the swirling smoke that he knew was the Pinsir, only making noise to attract its attention and blowing more Smokescreen if the cloud began to dissipate. It was tiring out and that was just what Coward wanted, he had seen those other trainers at Oaks lab use tactics like this in their training and it was proving highly effective in his current situation. His plan was to wait for the Pinsir to exsaust itself before following up with a few more wacks with the tip of his fire lit tail, burning it and hopefully force it to pass out.

That plan was thrown out the window when Pinsir began to make its way closer to Angelica, throwing a barrage of sporadic, but still deadly, attacks. Coward felt the familiar bubblying of anger stir in his stomach and veins, charging in without thinking again, he drew the heat into his throat and to his mouth.

Pinsir, still angry and confused, paced forward in search of the pesky fire Pokémon before bumping his foot against something soft. **[Found You]** Pinsir brought down his horns, planning to end Cowards life as slowly and painfully as possible with a Vicegrip. A sudden heat burned its back and the Pinsir swung around to come face to face with a open maw filled with fire.

The Ember attack blasted Pinsir in the face, flames licking hungrily around his armored head before blasting it off its feet and into the canopy in a burning, red fireball. When the attack finally ended, Coward fell to his rump in exsaution, panting and out of breath before falling to his back in a heap of scales.

_**I….I did it, I actually did it without being scared! **_Coward thought happily. Though, slightly untrue because the adrenaline was finally dieing and his fearful shakes arose again. His happy/scared moment was ruptured by a scream however.

"AAAAHHHHHH! Coward, what did you do!?" Angelica screamed, jumping up from her sleeping bag and now using it to beat down the rising flames on her bag. She gave another scream when her sleeping bag ignited and she resorted to padding down the flames with her hands, determined to save her supplies.

Coward, not noticing that he had set the grass on fire along with her stuff, stood up to help and began stopming on the little embers burning in the grass.

Soon the threat of losing supplies and a forest fire were now over, But Angelica still sat on her knees over her bag, eyes shrouded and eerily quiet.

Coward walked over and nudged her shoulder hesitantly, "Ch-Ch-Char?"

She rose to her full height and swung to his direction, "Why did you have to do that!? Why would you try burning my stuff and set the forest on fire!?"

Coward took a step back from her outburst, "Ma-ma-mander?"

"why has it been nothing but trouble since I started with you!? Are you just a magnet for bad luck, are you the Charmander's equivalent of a Kadabra!?" her face grew red, the day's earlier little misfortunes stacking apon each other along with her own thoughts making her anger immeasurable at the moment.

She stopped her yelling to look at Coward's shaking form and bloody head, "and look, you even opened your stitches! Now we _have_ to turn back! If I-" she gave a pained hiss and clutched her hand in pain,"and look what you did to my hands!"

She stopped after having a thought, "You know what, no, I'm not taking you back! I'm going back to have a doctor check my hands and you can stay here!" She swiped up what was left of her things and turned back in the direction to Viridian.

This wasn't fair on his part, and she knew that. But she was just so angry and she was acting on impulse now, barely even thinking before acting.

Coward chased after her slowy catching up to her walking form, "Char charmander man char!" he called after her in panic.

She quickly picked up her pace and began sprinting around the tress, "no! you stay here, maybe you'll grow a backbone if you live in the wild!"

He cried out to her begging, pleading her to not leave him behinde in the scary wilderness. She kept running though, his cries falling on deaf ears and Coward lost sight of her before triping on a root and falling on his tan belly.

Many Pokemon woke up, hearing the small Charmander's cries. Little of them slept the rest of the night.

ooOOOoo

_It is said in Pokemon that if you see a Kadabra's shadow bring the person bad luck _

_Sorry if that confused you, this is why I'm putting it down to tell you_

_I hope you will continue to enjoy later chapters. _


	2. Viridian City

"Human Speech"

_Human thoughts_

**[Pokemon speech]**

_**Pokemon thoughts**_

ooOOOoo

The morning sun shone through the canopy in natural brilliance, a perfect combination with the forest's smell of bark and fresh dew to make another brilliant day. Bug Pokemon crawled from there nests in the trees, Butterfree rising with soft wing beats and nudging their baby Caterpie to wake while Weedle already began greedily chewing on leaves.

Soft sniffles and wines elicited the attention of the other Pokemon but they ignored it after a short bit, already grown use to it since two days ago. Coward sat against the rough bark of the small tree inside a bush, tears slowly drying after crying for so long and wiping away the boogery mess dripping from his nostrils.

He had chased Angelica for as long as his little, orange legs could carry him but it proved useless with the distance she quickly covered with her longer legs. He had continued walking though, hoping to catch up before running into more wild Pokemon intent on attacking him. Soon it became morning and he forced himself to continue through his tired haze, skulking around branches and hunkering down under bushes in fright after seeing another Pokemon and this continued for another night. He didn't get any sleep that night either, too scared to leave himself exposed to the wild Pokemon.

He honestly didn't know how he pulled it off with the Pinsir, Coward was unable to call back the strength he wielded that night. He felt like he didn't even do anything when he tried to remember, just knowing he acted and not thinking about anything else at the time.

He looked nothing like the brave Charmander he was two nights ago and he knew it because he felt like Tauros crap. The two cuts ripped further open and it looked like an 'X' on his head with one of the lines extending further down and over his right eye, the blood now dried over and covered his face like a spot. Dried tear lines smudged the blood off slightly but the boogers just kept running out his nose and dripped onto the grass, not to mention all the shallow scratches covering his body from a thorn bush he fell in.

He didn't know it but Cowards tail was starting to shrivel up in size, becoming dimmer and weak till it only was a small ember. Verifying that he was weak from over exertion.

A growl rumbled the bush and sent Coward into a fit of shakes, putting him on edge and he burst from the shrub. A Caterpie was sent flying from its perch on the shrubbery's branches with a 'SQEE!' as Coward flew out and hit the ground running. The other peaceful bug-types scattered in fright at the sudden appearance of the fire-type and went to hide at the top of the trees as Coward practically flew by like a Zubat at of hell.

Coward used what little energy he had to flee from the possible monstrosity that could make such a noise, feet thumping against the lush grass and sending clippings flying in his wake. Chanting in his head he jumped over a rock before continuing onward,_**Gotta run, gotta run, gotta run!**_

Another Growl rose from seemingly nowhere, that only boosted his fright and speed as he barreled through the wilderness. This would've continued on longer if a sudden burst of light didn't blind him and sent him tumbling to the ground, the inertia transferred from his running to his fall making him roll and quickly accelerated as he continued downhill.

Coward screamed in confusion and fright, feeling a heat rise in his stomach and involuntarily spitting out an Ember attack. The flames rose and clung to his form in a smoldering blanket of red while charring the once green grass to nothing and leaving hot mud in his wake.

There was no sight of Coward inside the incendiary fireball and it continued down the hill and flying off a steep ledge before landing with a hard thud. The rolling Charmander still continued however, scraping up more dirt and leaving behind wisps of flames.

"CHAAAAAAR!"

He flailed his arms, attempting to stop his barrel rolling, making the bastardized Flame Wheel attack wiggle in unbalance and sending him careening suddenly to the right where he hit a tree. Everything was fuzzy and moving when he opened his eyes, light headed and body heavy he lifted himself up and wobbled on his feet in a drunken haze.

He didn't last long standing before falling to the ground again, Coward could almost literally feel the swirls in his eyes. _**I am never-ever going to do that again for as long as I live.**_

When the aching in his brain finally faded and was able to stand again, he pushed off the ground and was petrified at the sight of his handiwork. He had went _far _and left a thin line of destruction in his wake, flying off a rock ledge and continued before it suddenly made a turn on a dime and came ending into a thin oak tree, blackened scars warped the wood and splintered wide openings of bark flesh. He watched streams of smoke rise lazily into the air as he thought to himself, _**did I do that?**_

Noticing the unblocked sun, Coward saw he was no longer in the forest and swiveled his head around curiously at the open expanse. It was large and continued uphill fairly strait with the treeline bordering the outer edges and led to what was the entrance to Viridian Forest, the canopy blanketing the inside in darkness with little to know light.

This place was familiar, it was where he and Angelica first started their journey into that bug Pokemon infested place. Turning around, he held back a whoop of victory at the sight of the tall sun sparkling buildings that could only be Viridian City.

**[Finally, I made it back to the city! I can't wait to find...my trainer...] **he just realized that he didn't know her human name, but that didn't matter! He would learn it as soon as he found her and he could finally get a good nights sleep tonight!

**[I'm so relieved, I don't think I could stand one more night outsi-] **'GRRRRR!'

Coward became as stiff as a rock-type and soon began to shake more unstably than a Ditto on caffeine, gnawing on his hard claws nervously and looking around. There was another growl and Coward felt his stomach rumble in sync with the noise, he slapped a paw to his face at his own idiocy.

He hadn't eaten a thing since leaving Oak's lab with Angelica on day one, just finishing breakfast right when the trainer in…training...showed up. He missed those heavily spiced clumps of Pokemon food, always sending his mouth in a dribbling mess at just taking one bite of the delectable morsels.

Coward fought back from drooling on the spot, this was not the time to think of that now, he had to get to Angelica before something terrible happened to himself or her. _**I saved her, even if I am a scardy-Meowth, I'm responsible for her safety... I think?**_

That didn't mean he couldn't daydream about food a _little_ on his way back.

ooOOOoo 

Hours had passed and Coward felt no closer in finding his trainer in the noisy and bustling activity that was a city. Coward almost got ran over _twice _while moving from different blocks, and lost count of the times people stepped on his tail. Now he felt too intimidated to step out from behind the trashcans in the alley he hunkered down in to catch his breath, it all was just too much to take in at one time.

At the start he had a general idea of where she was going, having found her scent and following it deeper into the heart of the city. It was a light touch of Lavender and Oranges, well, burnt Lavender and Oranges with the little fire incident before she left him.

He walked on all fours for that little escapade, nose to the ground like a Growlithe and sticking close to the walls away from any passerby's sight. When he looked up there was a few instances were one or two out of the crowd in the congested sidewalk saw him, either giving pitying or confused and intrigued looks. Sometimes even all three combined, the pity look was aggravating and angered him to his own surprise and he just wished they would stop it and look away.

There was one girl that even attempted to pick him up, saying what he believed was suppose to be soothing words but only frightened him and was forced to flee and leave the scent trail behind. It highly irritated him but shrugged it off and began searching for the building that the Nurse Joy was at, if he could find that then there was a possibility Angelica was there too.

That was also a fruitless endeavor and only made him more lost in the thriving mini metropolis, along with a few more grabby people from the human populace. Coward became surprised with himself again when one too many pairs of hands went for him and he growled and attempted to bite out of aggravation.

So now he was tired and only wanted to rest behind the tin garbage can he called shelter. He felt drained, hungry, and down right exhausted from the sleepless nights in the forest. Maybe he could just close his eyes for a second, take a short nap, its not like there were wild Pokemon about and the humans didn't know where he was.

Shutting his blood stained lids, he felt the slowing of his breath as he began to drift off into a nice slumber.

**[Calm down we're almost there.]** Coward knew sleep would be too good to be true.

He jumped from his spot on the cold cement, knocking down the garbage cans and spilling the contents to the ground at the voices.

**[Shhhhh! Are you stupid or someth'n?] **A Meowth padded on her four legs out of the deeper, darker part of the alley watching the slightly silhouetted form of Coward in the dark.

**[You'll attract the humans' attention, we just found this foraging spot and we don't wanna have'ta move again.] **The larger of the Meowth whispered, leading three smaller Meowths behind her.

They had creamy bodies and black ears, each paw ending with brown tips to there fingers similar to the tips of their tails that swished behind them lazily. Thick whiskers framed the edges of their faces and was finally topped with what looked like a gold coin planted on their foreheads, shining excellently even with little sunlight to reflect off it.

They took steps closer to him and Coward released a low growl, feeling very exposed in his time of exhaustion, hunger, and fear and hoped he could bluff his way out of this. Coward felt relieved that the leading assailants eyes widened considerably and she took a step back, now wary of the threat that she knew was a Charmander.

But after looking at the silhouettes shaky legs, She gave a grin and Coward cursed his own fear and now he was the one stepping back. **[What are you acting all big and bad about, we outnumber you and your so scared you can barely sta-] **after walking closer with each word, her list of unused cocky remarks died in her throat at the sight before her.

Gashes in his head, dried blood and tears staining the little Charmander's face, along with the innumerable arrays of cuts spread on his smooth, orange scales. The deep bags under his eyes did Coward no justice with how lethargically he held himself, though still stiff and ready to run at any second.

**[What in Arceus' name happened to you?] **her children, taking notice of her question, took in the sight of the little fire-type in their own stunned silence.

A young males voice rose from behind his mother **[He looks like a Arcanine chewed him up and spat 'em out.] **he received a paw to the face for the comment **[OW! Hey, what was that for!?]**

**[Don't be so rude, he's hurt!] T**he male Meowth's sister commented, feeling a need to put her little brother in line **[and be quiet, were right by a human store!]**

**[But your yelling too!]**

A girls smaller, meek voice rose slightly, stuttering out unsure **[c-c-could you guys p-p-please stop f-f-fighting?] **Coward could've swore she seemed as frightened as he was half the time, it would not surprise him if she was, she was so small that he could hold her comfortable in his own paws.

Their bickering continued, ignoring their little sister, and escalated to the point that their mother had to cut in with a strict yelling whisper **[If you two don't knock it off, you are staying at the box for a week while me and your little sister go out for food!]**

This only made them complain it was the others fault and gained another scolding from the older feline. Coward could only watch dumbly at their interactions and scratched his head in wonder, plans of escape taking a backseat in his mind as he watched the squabble between the family members.

They were all given a very rude wake up call when an angry store manager turned from the alley corner yelling out, "What is all this racket!?"

All the Pokemon froze in terror at the sight of the human, "Meowths and a Charmander?" This was quite the strange sight for the man, there shouldn't even be wild Charmanders anywhere near this area.

His curious thought took a turn however when he saw the orange reptile over his spilled garbage, he would not stand for any wild Pokemon eating out of his trash, that would make the store look uncleanly, "All of you getting into my dumpster!? Go on scram, get outta here!"

Seeming like he pulled a broom from thin air, the manager swung it forward and hit Coward in the back. Coward gave a yelp and that was what got the rest of them to get moving, running to the other end of the alley. Coward was forced to follow after them, giving a scream as the manager's mustache seemed to bristle in anger as he took another swing at him. That thing looked scary!

It didn't take long for Coward to catch up to the cats, his longer legs pushing him farther than the three little Meowths could pull off. The speed boost would do him no good now though, a tower of boxes and pallets came in sight and he would have to start climbing up.

Already on her ascent to the next layer of boxes, the mother Meowth turned to call to her children **[Kids, start climbing quickly! We can lose him if we can get over fast enough!]**

That's all the incentive they needed, two of them jumping up and scaling the cardboard mountain as quick as their mother. Coward jumped and grabbed a high hanging pallet, his sharp claws digging into the wood as he kicked and struggled to climb up and soon made it and began to climb the next higher layer.

He felt the eyes of the manager on the back of his head while he climbed, hearing his leather shoes clack against the ground before halting their advance. He heard an enraged hiss from the top and looked up to see the Meowth mother glaring past him, curious, Coward turned back to see what had made her upset.

The smallest of the cats continued jumping as high as she could, trying and failing to scale the first box of cardboard mountain. The manager had risen his broom, intent on smacking down on the little cat _hard. _She looked up, terrified and pleading for her mother to help her but even if she could the older Meowth would not be able to jump down in time.

_**Those eyes,**_ Coward thought, _**Is that what mine look like?**_

A familiar burn in his stomach rose up again.

"I'll teach you stupid Pokemon not to invade my store again!" the man yelled, swinging down the broom, knowing the simple straw-end would only scare the Pokemon with a well placed whack and not hurt them much. In mid-swing the straw suddenly ignited into a burst of flame, making the man to withdraw in shock and panic and fall to the ground on some garbage.

In a flash of orange, Coward leaped down and snatched the little Meowth kitten up in his arms before stomping over threateningly to the manager. The straw was soon devoured by the Ember attack and the man dropped the broom stick before scooting away from the angry Pokemon with his hands.

"Just take it easy now little guy..." the man said shakily, trying to calm down the angry fire-type.

Coward held tightly to the small cat while giving a growl that elavated to a roar at the store manager, "CHAAAAR!"

The sound echoed in the closed in walls, making the Meowth jump at its volume, and was the final step to get the man off his ass and sprinting back to the safety of his store. The little Meowth shook in fear at the loud roar and rumble of the Charmander's chest, before looking up and staring at him in awe. Even the mother and her two other children watch in slight amazement at what the weak looking lizard had done.

That soon changed when the mother gave an angry look to the back of Coward's head and sensing the hostility, Coward turned around to meet her gaze that sent him in a fit of terrified shakes again.

**[Come on, help my daughter and hurry up over the boxes, we need to talk.]**

ooOOOoo

Not knowing what else to do, Coward went along with them and they all walked in silence, never uttering a word as they traversed through alleyways quietly and out of sight from the general human populace. Sweeping through bushes, walking along under slow cars as they drove, and even pretending to belong to a trainer as they tailed the unsuspecting boy.

Coward had to do all this with the Meowths and the smallest one had refused to leave the top of his head, only making following the others harder. He tried pulling her off once but she gave a quick meek stutter, asking to remain on him just a _little_ longer. That was an hour ago.

It would be much faster to get to where they were going by running through and around the humans, but that would also blow their cover and risk capture. Coward had guessed this and continued to follow obediently, still having not uttered a word around them.

Looking up, the little Meowth dangling from his scalp slightly, Coward noticed that the sun was beginning to set and gave a sigh. He would not find his trainer today and was going to have another sleepless night of paranoid self guarding, great.

Peeking out from a bush, the older Meowth glanced around cautiously before giving an 'OK' behind her and letting the others walk out. It was a barren road, no signs of recent human activity and a large wire gate, bordered by wooden walls, stood before them. Coward gave a few sniffs and had to cover his nose at the disgusting aromas radiating behind the great door, wet garbage and rot took only a millisecond to dominate his nostrils.

The local Viridian Dump was a fowl smelling place and people usually gave the area a wide birth, only local workers coming in and out. Even if it smelled bad, the dump was a the ideal place to live and hide for the Meowths.

Walking over to a jagged hole in the lumber walls, the Meowths filed in with Coward straight behind them. The ground was dry, dusty dirt with stacks of rotting bags of garbage lined up evenly in rows with other miscellaneous things.

**[Remember to stay quiet this time]** the mother gave her kids a stern look, and they kept their eyes to the ground, trying not to make eye contact at their still seething mother.

They silently worked their way around the filth, heading toward the far eastern part of the area before the mother suddenly stopped in mid-step, ears swiveling forward, and staying as still as a statue. Coward scratched his head confusingly, wondering why the sudden stop on their walk when he heard a faint trickle of what sounded like thick running water.

She pushed the group forcibly into a nearby pile of bags as silently as she could **[Hide quickly, before they see us!]** she gave a rushed whisper.

Now with a Meowth on his head _and_ in his lap, Coward was pushed further back and felt something hard poke into his rear-end uncomfortably. There was even less room when the larger feline jumped into the jumble with them, pulling a plastic board over the now non-vacant hole and fell still.

Soon the noise escalated and multiple mounds of purple sludge passed by their hole of trash, bumping and pushing one another as they continued on their own way. Coward's body shook in fright, making their hiding spot rattle sporadically and he wondered if those monstrosities could be other Pokemon.

The mother Meowth put a paw to his chest in attempt to stop him from blowing their cover and, after reading the question off his face, explained quietly **[Those are Grimer, their trainers are the people that work here. They eat the trash and guard the yard in groups at night, so you need to stay quiet.]**

It wasn't long before the Grimer herd had passed and their group climbed out of hiding, continuing the walk to whatever place they were leading Coward to. They all halted in front of an exceptionally large trash pile and holding a large flap of a cardboard box, the older Meowth coaxed them in before stopping the Charmander in his path.

**[Get off his head now dear and go inside, I need to have a talk with your little freind]** he felt the tiny Meowth nod from her perch on his scalp before jumping off and going through the flap without a word.

Coward watched her go and turned to face the mother curiously, flinching away from her hardened glare. He really wished the little Meowth stayed, it would've made him feel a little more secure with the daughter here to give the mother reason to hold back her wrath.

**[Do you have any idea what you have done!?]** she practically hissed through her teeth, flexing the claws in her paw. He could only shake his head in a negative motion and waited for the inevitable fury the Meowth would unleash on him.

**[Because of you, there are going to be human police crawling all over that part of town in search of dangerous Pokemon!] **

Through his fear, Coward gave a questioning tilt of his head and she sensed his confusion **[They think your dangerous! You attacked a human and you dragged me and my kids into this along with you!]**

**[There will be people looking to catch us and put us down, _permanently_!] **Her creamy fur glowed crimson in her face and she restrained herself from strangling the little reptilian.

Coward backed up as she advanced on him and his body quaked in fearful tremors, hoping she wouldn't attack him on the spot. Taking a breath from her yelling, she took another look at his battered and beaten form and drew back the anger.

Looking past the blood and cuts, the Charmander was little more than a child himself but held firm, her own children were now more at threat.

**[I see that your little older than my own kids and I'm grateful to you for helping my little girl, but that doesn't change that fact your actions have serious repercussions.]** She said softly, lowering her voice to hopefully calm Coward down.

Walking closer and lifting her hand, Coward dropped to the ground and held his arms protectively over his head expecting a hard hit. He was certainly thrown off when she padded his head gently, rubbing his scalp in what she knew would be a soothing gesture for him.

Lifting his head, Cowards eyes shown innocently with unshed tears in curiosity at her sudden change of mood **[Calm down, your tears aren't gunna help nuth'n. The past is the past and that cant be changed now, we just have to live with it.]**

Coward's shakes died down and continued to stare at her blankly, she gave a chuckle **[ You don't talk much do ya?] **Coward could only shake his head dumbly at that.

**[Go inside and get some rest, you look like you haven't slept for days] **she said lightheartedly, not knowing how true he words were. He gave a nod and dropped to all fours to crawl into what he guessed was her home. Hesitating, he looked back at her expectantly.

**[I'm gunna stay out and look around for some food, think you could keep my kids out'a trouble while I'm gone?] **Coward gave a smile and a lethargic nod before crawling inside.

From the diameters of the box, Coward expected the home to be small and cramped but he was blown away at the size of the inside. The mound of trash was hallow in the interior, leaving plenty of space to run around on the hard ground and with a large pile of mattress stuffing in the far corner. He guessed that was their beds.

Feeling a sudden brush against his leg, Coward looked down to see the little Meowth becoming clingy again, S**_he certainly is persistent, I'll give her that. _**

**[Hey, can you show me how you did that fire thingy?] **the rather loud boy Meowth called out before jumping in front of him. The Meowth received a rather hard whack from his sister's tail, now rubbing the back of his head intent on stopping the pain.

**[Jeez, how many times have I told you to stop being so rude!] **An argument immediately broke out and that soon escalated to a full on wrestling match form the two siblings.

Feeling the smallest Meowth drop onto his head while watching the fight continue, Coward only had one though cross his mind as they barreled into a stack of trash, **_What have I gotten myself into?_**

ooOOOoo

After foraging through the more recent pile's of trash, Meowth had scraped up some non-rotten bits of food and carried her find inside a plastic bag in her teeth. She wasn't sure how hungry the Charmander would be and topped with her and her children's hunger, she needed as much food as she could get.

She felt lucky today, there rarely was any good food left in the dump with most of it already gone bad or the Grimer getting to it first. Having finished scavenging her treasure trove of food, she suppressed a shiver from the cold night air and headed back to be surprised at the sight she came home to.

A small pile of wooden boards sat burning in front of Coward's upright form as he sat in the mattress stuffing, the kids cuddled against his sides while her smallest child wrapped herself into his lap. Coward, fighting off sleep and keeping his tail up high enough to not set the bedding on fire, kept his eyes open tiredly and watchful till her return.

If it was possible, his fellow Pokemon had tired him out even further than before, running around after them in games of tag and hide-and-seek. Thankfully, they finally had enough and snuggled up to his heat radiating body to escape the cold, the littlest one surprised him the most with how energetic she was before taking her spot on his lap.

But his body wasn't enough and they still shivered sporadically, so he pulled out some pallets the bed sat on and lit them on fire, trying not to move too much and wake the kittens. The flames sent radiant heat and warmed the cats up considerably, though, that didn't stop their snuggling into his scales.

Hearing a laugh, Coward rose a weary eye to meet hers, [**They seem to have taken a liking to you, quite quickly I might add.]**

Coward gave a nod, watching as she laid a plastic sack down beside their snuggle pile and dig into it quietly while she whispered, **[I'm sorry if they were too much trouble.]**

He shook his head, not minding at all that the Meowths were so playful. It was actually refreshing and fun to set aside his current predicament. At Oak's lab, some Pokemon were nice enough to play with him and he did miss those fun times already.

After digging into the sack for a while, she pulled out a thick wrapper and tossed it to him. Coward caught it clumsily in his sharp claws, surprised by the sudden projectile and trying not to drop it. His nostrils filled with the smell of cooked meat and he opened it aggressively to find a burger and continued to greedily devour the Tauros sandwich in two bites.

**[Yikes, slow down or your gunna make yourself sick.] **she said while biting into a piece of pizza.

He licked the grease off his maw with gusto and mumbled heartily, **[That was good.]**

**[So he does speak,] **she said with a soft laugh.

Cowards orange scales blushed red in slight embarrassment and he began poking his claws together. This only gave the Meowth mother more amusement as she chuckled into her next bite of pizza.

He continued to shyly poke his claw tips together before trying to continue talking, **[S-so... could I ask for your n-names?]**

She swallowed part of her meal before making a weird face, **[Isn't it rude to ask for anothers name before giving your own?] **she asked playfully.

His shifted uncomfortably while his embarrassment seemed to increase, **[S-s-sorry, it's C-coward.]**

She only made a weirder face at that, **[Coward? What kind of name is that?]**

Coward only lowered his head, **[T-that's what m-my trainer calls me...]**

Lifting his head, Coward watched as her brows creased and she sighed, **[I figured you had a trainer since free Charmanders aren't suppose to be in a city. I didn't expect that you had one that would give you such a name.]**

**[What do you mean 'free']** he cocked his head to the side innocently.

She looked up at him, **[I guess wild is what you would call it since you have a trainer. Me, though, I call it being free.]**

Cocking his head to his other side, Coward only seemed to be more confused but shook his head and decided to move the conversation somewhere else. **[C-can you tell me yours now?]**

She gave a frown at that, **[Having names is purely a human thing.]**

**[Oh...] **he lowered his head down, unsure how to react to that.

He heard a rustle of the plastic bag and he was handed a small box from the mother Meowth**, [Don't worry, you'll get used to it after you forget about your trainer.]**

**[What do you mean by that?]** he asked while opening the colorful box and poking at the strange, cold noodles.

**[What I mean is that the faster you forget about that trainer of yours, the faster you'll get use to being free.] **She said matter-of-factly.

Coward took a claw-full of the noodles before stuffing it into his open maw. He gave a shiver at the odd texture on his tongue but worked through it to swallow it whole, too hungry to care about its strangeness. **[Why would I want to forget my trainer?] **

The frown she made before only deepened, **[Let me answer that question with another question; how did you end up all by yourself in the city?] **

**[I would rather not talk about it,] **he muttered. He was beginning to fear the answers to the questions he asked and felt more than a little confused on how to take them. He especially didn't want to think, let alone, talk about the forest fire he almost made.

**[That's what I thought,]** she said after licking her paws of any left over cheese. **[Let me take a guess on how you ended up here in the first place. Something happened between you and your trainer, your trainer didn't seem to want you anymore, abandoned you, and have been wandering around ever since.]**

**[W-well, that's not exactly how it happened...] **he weakly denied. He tried to keep from making eye contact and scratched at his cuts absentmindedly. Coward gave a sudden hiss in pain after passing over one too roughly, making the kittens stir slightly at the sudden action.

**[Yeah, sure]** she replied sounding more than unconvinced.

He heard another rustle from her and turned to see what she was doing. Finding that she no longer sat in her previous spot and flinched when he felt a pressure on his shoulders.

**[and I guess she didn't do this to you either?] **she asked accusingly as she observed the gashes on his head with a critical eye. Balancing herself on him with her paws.

He glanced up at her warily, **[No, that was f-from a Rattata. The rest are from a thorn bush.]**

Feeling a wet tongue run across his scalp, Coward flinched away from her. **[Oh, calm down,]** she gave another lick to his cuts. **[This is how your suppose to clean injuries. I'm not gunna bite your head off or anything.]**

Coward sat silently, feeling more than a little awkward as she continued her cleaning. She gave a huff at that, **[Your not a newborn, you can clean the other cuts on your body. I'm not gunna lick you down head to toe.]**

Coward had the decency to blush at that. He began at his arms, licking his broad tongue over the spiderweb like string of cuts. It took awhile to do a thorough job of it and after moving on and finishing with his face, Coward blushed heavily at that, the Meowth began at his back where he couldn't reach.

When they were both done, she sat down next to him and surveyed their work approvingly. All the little cuts were barely visible to the naked eye and the blood was gone. Now his face was clean and the large 'X' shaped laceration on his head was crusted over and would no longer bleed. Though it would scar horribly without a doubt, but there was nothing she could do about that.

Coward snout opened up with a loud yawn, rubbing his eyes tiredly he tried to bite back another he felt coming on. Meowth eyed him with amusement at how comically wide his jaws opened, [Go ahead and get some sleep. I'm gunna put that fire out and I'll go to bed too.

Coward couldn't disobey her even if he wanted to. He picked up the littles Meowth from his lap and laid her beside her siblings before laying on his belly and draped his fire-tipped tail away from the bedding onto the dirt. He could happily say that as soon as his head touched down on the soft fabric that he was out like a light.


End file.
